Make sure your wedding reception follows an appropriate timeline

Your wedding day is going to be an absolutely unforgettable event in your life. Starting from the moment you open your eyes on the big day and ending with the moment you are back in your hotel room. This day is going to be exciting, exhausting and slightly scary as well.

Creating a thorough wedding reception timeline can help you put all the wedding highlights in the right order and give you some clarity of mind as well – Do you however know the appropriate steps your reception timeline should follow? Read on and find out more.

The cocktail hour. As the name suggests, this is the first part of the reception and it will last for approximately one hour. This is the time for you to get away with your photographer and shoot some photos, while your guests indulge in snacks and drinks.

The introductions and the cake cutting. This shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes total – and it usually involves mentioning the parents, the wedding party and announcing the entrance of the couple. The intros are usually followed up by the cake cutting. The reason this is after the introductions is so the vendor can then have the cake cut into individual pieces and ready to be served for desert immediately after dinner. After the cake cutting comes the wedding toasts (which shouldn’t last for more than 10-15 minutes total).

The dinner and the party. Once the toasts are over, the first course is served. The dinner itself lasts for about 1 hour or so and it is followed by another 1 and a half hours of dancing. Of course, the timings are approximate, but if you have rented the venue for a very specific number of hours, you should try to stick to a stricter timeline.

1st Dances – The night is usually kicked off by the bride and Grooms first dance followed by the father /daughter and the mother/son dances.

The bouquet and garter – The DJ usually saves this for the end of the night. This is followed up by about 1 hour of dancing and a farewell to the bride and groom.

Allusion Photography can capture all these amazing moments in a beautiful, original and truly candid way – so if you are still searching for a wedding photographer in Illinois, give us a call and we’ll be there for you!